Every day, my Brooklyn genealogy adventure inches closer. The Google Map is primed and bristling. I have a color-coded schedule that would impress any cruise director. I no longer have to scroll down on the Asana calendar to see the dates—they’re right there, reminding me of what I haven’t gotten done yet.
Real and present life has required my attention, as always. I caught two colds and broke a dental crown, so it’s been a real fun time. My research has thus been a bit sidelined. But the good news is that I got an awful lot of planning done early, and the work now is all online. It’s been hours of internet searches, trying to scoop up every bit of digital info I can now, so that my in-person experience is as good as I can make it.
Subbing in for Weinpahl: Weinpahls
One result of all those searches: I’m starting to think that my great-great uncle Gus Weinpahl never played pro baseball in Brooklyn. I can’t find anything that supports the newspaper article that claimed he played for the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. I can only find mentions of semi-pro and club ball. Ah well.
However, the upside is that all those newspaper searches for him reminded me of all the other Weinpahl mentions I hadn’t spent a lot of time on: Legal notices.
My family kept their lawyers BUSY. This is a list of land transfers and other legal events involving the Weinpahls, over 8 years.
I already know that some of these records are in Albany or no longer available. But some others might be in Brooklyn. And putting these events in a timeline is helping me understand some things. I’d call that a win.
Swing and a Miss
Despite my efforts, the goal of finding experts to talk to is just not panning out. Cold calls are always going to be iffy; I get it. So I’m moving on from that goal. I will do as best I can to get as informed as I can some other way.
Next Up
Last night I talked out my in-person research strategy with my husband (ex-librarian). He helped me divide it:
- Industry research (candy/baseball/alcohol); and
- personal research (names of individuals and the associations/orgs they’re connected to).
So when I show up at a library or museum, my search can start from one of those two angles and expand from there. This should keep me from being overwhelmed, losing my place, and giving up and going to get a bagel.
(There will still be bagels. They’re on the map.) ☗
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